


Republic Station

by jorlau



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, F/F, F/M, Gen, IN SPACE!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-09-14
Packaged: 2018-04-12 16:51:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4487304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jorlau/pseuds/jorlau
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Avatar Korra stows away on a spaceship to escape the ice planet on which she was born and travel to Republic Station, she isn't prepared for what she'll find. Soon, she's at the heart of galactic power struggles that will see her battling terrifying opponents for the future of the universe. At her side are the Qenj'vat warrior brothers Mako and Bolin and the brilliant starfighter pilot Asami Sato, but against them are a fearsome array of humans, aliens, spirits, and far-too-sophisticated robots. Can Korra claim her destiny and become the Avatar the universe needs?</p><p>This story will roughly parallel the canonical legend of Korra, but in a science fiction universe inspired by Star Trek, Babylon 5, Andromeda, Wing Commander, and many others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written ahead on this story, which is my usual practice, so I can't predict when it will be updated or how often. I'll try to be good.

It was a dark and stormy night. At least, it was a dark and stormy night on the part of the planet directly below the station, and so the station's weather system was dutifully attempting to simulate the same for its residents. Mako wondered, not for the first time, who had programmed it, and why they had so carefully set it up to rain on exactly the parts of the station that were otherwise the best places to be homeless in. It seemed like a colossal waste of resources.

“How about we go to the docking bays?” Bolin asked. “Maybe there's a big ship we can sit under.”

Mako looked over at his brother, who was shivering, and nodded. “All right. Let's go.”

The two boys set off into the maze of corridors that composed the ship. The walkways were dry, but the police were vigilant on wet days, and neither Mako nor Bolin fancied a chase, so they did not dally but walked briskly towards their destination. By unspoken agreement, however, they made their route circuitous, delaying their inevitable return to the cold and the wet.

They were about halfway to their destination when Mako spotted trouble: a hovercar tearing along the corridors at a breakneck speed, piloted by a woman he recognized as a long-term member of the Agni Kai triad. He grabbed his brother and pulled him hastily into an open maintenance hatchway, out of the path of the approaching vehicle. They huddled together silently while the hovercar passed, and then Bolin made a move for the corridor again. Mako shook his head.

“There's a lot of rich people the direction they came from,” he explained when Bolin gave him a puzzled glance. “Security's probably after them. Wait and see.”

It felt like an eternity before the security officers passed them. Only then did Mako release Bolin and cautiously step out into the open.

“That was interesting,” Bolin commented. “What do you think the Agni Kais were doing?”

“I don't know, but it can't have been good,” Mako said grimly. “Come on, let's get moving.”

“It's going to be cold and wet,” Bolin groused, but he obediently followed his brother towards the docking bays.

* * *

Hot. Why was she so hot? Asami tried to open her eyes, tried to sit up, but she could not move. She could not even groan at the pain that shot through her at the effort. She heard her father's voice, seemingly from a long way away.

“Don't try to move, sweetie,” he murmured. “Lie still and stay calm. Daddy's here. You're safe now. You're going to be just fine.”

_Mom_ , she wanted to ask him. _Where's Mom?_ The words died in her throat; her mouth was as immobile as the rest of her. What had happened? She couldn't remember anything that would explain why she hurt so much, or why her body felt like it was burning up. 

“Please, Asami,” her father begged. “Please, just try to relax. I know you're hurt, but I promise, you're going to be fine. Just go to sleep now.”

Hiroshi Sato had never yet broken a promise to his daughter. Asami forced herself to let go of the questions pounding through her brain, and let herself sink into a fevered, uneasy sleep. 

* * *

It was always cold on the frozen planet that the Southern Water Tribe called Homeworld.1 Korra's bedroom was no exception. Although she was not usually bothered by it, tonight the little girl was feeling highly put-upon, and the chill of the large, sparsely-furnished room was contributing in no small part to that. She hopped from foot to foot as she struggled to pull on her warmest trousers. 

“Stupid White Lotus,” she muttered. “Stupid compound. Why did Mom and Dad let them bring me here? I didn't do anything wrong!”

Okay, so she hadn't been supposed to get out of sight, but it wasn't her fault the White Lotus guard she'd had with her was so slow and short-sighted. She'd never spent time with an Onq'tre before, and so she'd gone as far away as she would have from a human, and then suddenly she'd been frozen in a block of ice and that strange wingless Crathva had dragged her away. It hadn't been a very big deal, anyway. She'd gotten free of the weird group of assorted humans and aliens accompanying the Crathva easily enough as soon as the White Lotus people had caught up with her. 

“I'll show them,” she muttered, jamming her feet into her boots. “I'll go to the tundra and look for that polar bear-dog den I found and see how the puppies are doing. Then I'll go home and see Mom and Dad. I don't need the stupid White Lotus!”

Outside, the wind howled angrily, but Korra paid it no mind as she finished dressing and set to work tunneling out of the room. She was the Avatar. She could handle a little weather. 

* * *

_It was the dawn of the second age of the Avatar, seventy years after the Hundred Year War. The United Republic was a dream given form. Its goal: to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens of all nations can work out their differences peacefully. It's a sometime home, sometime playground, sometime battlefield for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers._

_Benders and non-benders packed into a whirling mass of skilfully-bent metal, a shining beacon of freedom, all alone in the night._

_It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last best hope for peace._

_This is the story of the first of the new Avatars. The year is 170 AG. The name of the place is Republic Station._

1 “Southern” was an approximate translation into the standard language of the Earth Kingdom, now used by most spacegoing races as a common tongue, and many scholars considered “Upper” a more accurate term, since they were the Water Tribe whose homes were usually drawn in the upper portion of three-dimensional star charts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending of this chapter is taken from Babylon 5's first season's [introduction](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtrUhIuEqdY), adapted to fit the setting and narrative. This is part of my secret scheme to get more people to watch B5, because it is an underappreciated classic.


	2. Welcome to Republic Station

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avatar Korra arrives on Republic Station.

The captain of the Water Tribe Starship Iluliaq was not having a good day. He was late picking up his next cargo, he had a splitting headache, and to top it all off, he'd just been informed that his crew had located a stowaway. Correction – Lieutenant Tikivik, usually stoic in the manner of her people, sounded harried – two stowaways. One of them a polar-bear dog. Yes, definitely a polar bear-dog, Captain.

“How did they manage to hide one of those things all the way from Homeworld to here?” The captain winced as his own bellowing sent a searing pain through his head.

“I don't know, sir,” Tikivik said. “Shall I ask the human accompanying it?”

“Never mind!” Her commanding officer snapped. “Just detain them and we'll figure out what to do when we get to the station.”

There was a pause. Then Tikivik said, slowly, “detain a polar bear-dog, sir?”

“Yes!”

“Sir, our brig is barely big enough for a normal humanoid, and this creature is quite large,” the Orne pointed out. “In addition, neither the polar bear-dog nor the human appear receptive to the idea of being detained. The human is currently in a fighting stance, and the polar bear-dog is growling. We have not approached them, but I do not think they are inclined to surrender.”

“Is the human armed?” The captain asked.

“It appears to be a bender, sir,” Tikivik said.

“Wonderful,” muttered the captain. “Try to talk it down. The last thing we need is to have it trash the cargo bay.”

“Yes, sir,” Tikivik growled.

The captain drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair, and waited for what seemed like ages. Eventually, his comm chirped, and he impatiently flicked it on. “Yes?” He demanded.

“Ah... Captain...” Tikivik sounded almost timid. The captain felt a jolt of alarm. Tikivik was many things, but timid was not one of them.

“Yes, Lieutenant?” He asked warily.

“About that human, sir. The one I mentioned? It... appears to be the Avatar, sir.”

The captain sank his head into his hands. This was not a good day at all.

 

“Wow!” Korra stared wide-eyed at the viewscreen, seemingly unaware of the icy glare the captain was directing at her. “I knew it was big, but I wasn't expecting that!”

The captain had decided that trying to take Korra prisoner wasn't worth the risk to his crew, and that the best course of action would be to deliver her to her destination as quickly as possible so she would become someone else's problem. This had not been protested by some of the crew, who argued that smuggling the Avatar off of Homeworld when she had clearly been meant to stay there, while prudent in the short term, would cause trouble in the long run, but since none of them wanted to fight the most powerful bender in the known universe, the captain's logic won out.

Now Korra was standing happily on the bridge of the Iluliaq, gazing out at Republic Station. People who had not seen it generally assumed that Republic Station, set up by the late Avatar Aang in what had once been the neutral zone between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation, was like many other space stations: a giant floating hunk of metal crammed with people and machinery. In fact, Republic Station had started its existence as a small mining colony on an inhospitable but ore-rich moon, and grown organically from that form. Now, it covered the surface of the moon almost entirely, and a motley collection of smaller structures floated around it, connected to it and to each other via metal tubes through which the inhabitants swarmed like ants; small spacecraft ferried people between the structures, or to and from the surface of the planet the station orbited, which was only partially habitable but which housed the wealthiest of the station's denizens and the industry that produced their wealth. The sight of it, even from a distance, was awe-inspiring, and Korra gave a little bounce of excitement as she watched it grow larger in the viewscreen. This was going to be great.

 

_Well, that could have gone better,_ Korra thought glumly as she trudged towards the docking bay behind  Tenzin. Within her first hour on the station she'd gotten into a fight, been hauled in for questioning by the extremely angry Onq'tre who was chief of station security, and been shouted at at length by Tenzin, who'd promised to send her back to Homeworld on the very same ship she'd arrived on. Which meant dealing with that grumpy captain, though she suspected he was preferable to Chief Beifong. And she hadn't even managed to feed Naga, which had been what she'd been trying to do when the whole trouble started, so the polar bear-dog would be grumpy too.

“Korra!”

The young human laughed happily as three sets of small arms wrapped tightly around her.

“Are you coming to live on the planet with us?” asked Ikki eagerly, hopping from one foot to another.

“No, Ikki,” Korra said reluctantly. “I'm sorry, I have to go home now.” She turned away from Tenzin's children, trying not to listen to their exclamations of disappointment, and towards the waiting ship. On the gangplank she could see Tikivik, face emotionless, watching her approach. Yeah. This was not going to be a fun return trip.

A few minutes later, Tikivik walked cautiously onto the bridge of the Iluliaq, bowing politely to the captain before speaking. “Ah, sir? Some news.”

“What now?” the captain groaned. “Don't tell me we have another surprise passenger.”

“No, sir,” the Orne said. “We've got two fewer, sir. The Avatar and her companion are going to stay here.”

“WHAT?”

“Councilman Tenzin changed his mind, sir. He seems to think the Avatar should stay here after all.”

“He yelled at us for a good half-hour for bringing her here!”

“Yes, sir.”

The captain rubbed his head again. “Tikivik?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Take over. I'm going to go get drunk.”


	3. Arena

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami attends a pro-bending match and is excited.

It was kind of sad, Korra reflected, how good she was at sneaking away to forbidden places. The White Lotus' efforts to contain her back on Homeworld had never worked for long, and here they almost seemed to be helping her. Maybe they were as annoyed by that bossy stick-in-the-mud Tenzin as she was. Maybe they were as tired of his lectures, his bad temper, and his general refusal to tolerate anything he saw as slacking off.

To be fair, Korra knew that Avatar Aang's third-born had a lot of burdens resting on his narrow shoulders. Tenzin's mother, Katara, had explained to Korra, once, that because Aang was not only the last airbender in the known universe but also the last Yrzhe, it had taken the best genetic engineers in the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation years of failed attempts to produce each child. When the first two proved healthy but unable to airbend, it had seemed that the universe's airbenders would vanish with Aang's death. Tenzin represented the salvation of the abilities and culture of the airbending peoples, and his children the hope for their future. Even the Avatar's responsibilities seemed small in comparison. And Tenzin was passionate about his duty.

An unfortunate side effect of this passion was that he was a stick-in-the-mud. Korra made a mental note not to let her Avatar responsibilities turn her into one as well. It was probably an important part of her training to keep sneaking out and doing fun things, really. Besides, on her last excursion she'd promised her new friend Bolin that she wouldn't miss his pro-bending match tonight, and what sort of Avatar would she be if she broke her word?

 

The match was starting late. Seated squashed between two large Qentba in the general audience, Asami ruefully thought that she might have been better off paying more for a better spot. Usually she liked being in the crowds, feeling their energy, but tonight the tension among Fire Ferret fans was running high, and she was getting stressed the longer she waited. Nor was she the only one.

“I'm so nervous right now,” she heard a Nyvra in the next row say for the fourth time. “I can't deal with this!”

“Calm down, Znex,” the burly Orne beside the Nyvra said soothingly. “Hasook was just a little off his game last match. He'll do better this time.”

_I hope so_ , Asami thought. She had spent an agonizing few minutes watching the firebender Mako (her favorite Fire Ferret, if she was being honest) fighting three opponents solo after Hasook (her least favorite) had bungled a play and knocked both himself and Bolin (her second favorite) out of the action. She didn't want to repeat that experience, even if Mako's eventual win had been incredibly satisfying.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the announcement that the Fire Ferrets would be fielding a replacement waterbender because Hasook was unavailable. A murmur of interest arose from the crowd, and they all tried to get a look at the unknown player. Asami could make out a humanoid several sizes too small for Hasook's uniform. She fervently hoped that the oversized garments wouldn't impair the newcomer's movements too much.

It soon became apparent that an ill-fitting uniform was far less of an impairment to the waterbender's performance than a complete lack of knowledge of the rules of pro-bending. Asami winced as she watched the clueless player throw an opponent in entirely the wrong direction  and leap out of bounds. Then –

“Wait a minute – did that waterbender just earthbend?” Shiro Shinobi could probably announce the destruction of the world without losing his professional voice, but he did sound bewildered. Asami's brain whirred. Only one person could bend more than one element. That meant that the person down in the ring with a too-big helmet slipping over her eyes and a posture that conveyed both sheepishness and excitement was –

“Wait, what? How is this possible?” Znex exclaimed. “The Avatar, are you kidding me?”

Confusion reigned as the referee hurriedly consulted his rulebook, trying to figure out what the rules on the Avatar playing on a pro-bending team were, while the crowd erupted in excited debate. Despite the Qentba crowding her, Asami managed to pull her goggles from her pocket and slip them over her eyes. She twisted the dial on the side to magnify her view. Yes, that was the same face she'd seen in the news broadcast the other week announcing the Avatar's arrival on Republic Station. The most powerful person in the known universe was playing Asami's favorite sport, on Asami's favorite team, right in front of Asami's disbelieving eyes.

It was a shame, Asami realized once the referee made his decision and allowed the match to resume, that being the most powerful person in the known universe didn't prevent you from getting  clobbered by people more familiar with how to play the game.  Not that the Avatar was hurting the team worse than Hasook had last match, the Qentba to Asami's left sourly remarked after the young human was sent flying out of the ring.

The Fire Ferrets lost the first two rounds; they would need a knockout to continue into the final tournament.  Znex and his friend were clinging to each other in agonized anticipation;  Asami was so close to the edge of  her seat that when one of the Qentba next to her moved suddenly she  nearly fell. Shinobi was gleefully predicting the Avatar's imminent departure from the ring; Mako and Bolin were corralled in a corner. Asami forgot to blink, she was staring so hard at the waterbender, as if trying to keep her in the match by sheer willpower.

Then, suddenly, the Avatar was dodging, flowing, keeping just out of the enemy's reach, drawing their fire until Mako and Bolin moved in to strike back. It was over in seconds. The Fire Ferrets had won. They would go to the tournament after all.  Cheering wildly, Asami fell off the bench.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, another chapter!
> 
> Anyone figured out how I'm naming the aliens yet?


	4. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Equalists have captured Bolin, and both he and Mako have opinions about it.

_Okay, this is not good._ Bolin fidgeted against his bonds, feeling panic welling up inside him. _Let's see. Number one, Mako is definitely going to be pissed at me for taking work with the Triple-Threats, okay, so in hindsight that was definitely not a good move, but it's not like he knew Amon's chi-blockers would show up and if they hadn't, I could have made some money to get our team into the tournament, so it's really not fair for him to be such a stick-in-the-mud. Granted, he hasn't actually lectured me about it yet, but I am definitely not looking forward to that part of being rescued. Being rescued would be nice otherwise, though! Definitely could get behind being rescued._ Shady Shin fell heavily onto Bolin as the shuttle transporting them turned. Bolin was now half-trapped under the mobster's trussed-up body. Great.

_Where was I? Oh, yeah, rescue. Man, I really hope Mako finds me soon. I don't know what Amon wants to do to the Triple-Threats, but I don't think I want to be there. Especially since I kind of look like a Triple-Threat, what with the hanging out in their headquarters ready to fight anyone who attacked them. Oops. Maybe Shady Shin can help me explain what happened. He'd do that, right? We're friends, aren't we? He said we were friends!_

_Okay, waiting for Mako is probably the best plan. Maybe Korra will help him. She was with him when I saw him earlier, and she's definitely my friend. Man, that girl is great. I've never met anyone I felt such an immediate connection to. And she's fun, and strong, and a great bender, and beautiful, and... okay, it's not really the right time to be thinking about that. It would be super awesome if she came with Mako to rescue me, though. Soon. Maybe really soon. Please?_

The shuttle lurched as it landed. Shady Shin's head collided with Bolin's, and the young Qenj'vat saw stars (figuratively speaking; there were no windows in the shuttle's cargo area). He shook his head, trying to clear it but instead making the pain worse. _Man, where's Mako when I need him?_

 

In fact, Mako was presently in the park, watching Avatar Korra, supposedly the most powerful being in the known universe (aside from some spirits left over from the time of the Old Races), as she attempted to browbeat a small Crathva into revealing where the Equalist shuttle had taken Bolin. A small part of Mako felt that she wasn't helping to combat the image of benders as bullies, but a much larger part of him was too concerned about Bolin to care, and the rest was occupied with trying not to analyze the difference between human and Qenj'vat musculature1. He wondered if the Avatar could lift him as easily as she could the Equalist. Probably not. He was much bigger than a Crathva.

Mako's musings were interrupted by the harsh voice of a station security officer. Mako grabbed a handful of the cheap holochips that the Equalist had been handing out and bolted, Korra close at his heels.

When they had escaped (easily, thanks to Mako's years of practice) Mako scowled at his ill-gotten loot. _That's what you get for getting distracted_ , he told himself severely. _Now you've got some junky pieces of plastic and you've lost a chance at interrogating someone who might have been able to help. If anything happens to Bolin, it'll be because you let a girl get to you. Some brother you are._

"I don't get it," Korra said, frowning at the holochips. "Why doesn't the hologram show where this 'revelation' is going to be?"

"They probably don't want just anyone waltzing in," Mako said. "They've probably hidden the information on them somehow." He squinted at one of the holochips, turning it around in his hands, then tapped it to shut off the hologram, which was starting to creep him out. The chip went dark, but not entirely. He blinked at it. There was a faint pattern on its surface. He examined the other chips. Yes, there were several distinct patterns, and if he looked at them from the right angle....

"Numbers and cardinal directions!" he cried. "It must be on the planet, and these must be the coordinates!"

Korra gave him a look that suggested that she could not believe he'd just used the phrase "cardinal directions" in a real sentence, but was nevertheless impressed. He felt elated, smug. All he had to do now was sneak into whatever the place was, find Bolin, and sneak him out again without getting caught. That would be tricky. He fervently hoped Korra wouldn't mess everything up. Maybe he shouldn't bring her.

 

 _Boy, am I glad I brought her_ , thought Mako as Naga bounded across the planetside streets towards the safety of the Air Temple. He probably could have come up with a distraction technique without her, but her presence had definitely saved time, and given how narrowly Bolin had escaped having his ability to earthbend taken away permanently – Mako's fists clenched at the thought of his baby brother losing the thing, aside from his pet fire ferret, that made him the happiest – time had certainly been of the essence. Then, too, there had been the Syrn who had electrocuted Mako and Bolin and left them stunned, and the small matter of Korra taking him down and calling Naga in to carry them all away. Yes, he was glad he'd brought Korra. He only wished he hadn't needed to.

"How can Amon be able to take away people's bending?" Bolin muttered into Mako's shoulder. "That is so not fair!"

"You're right, bro," Mako said absently. "You are very right."

1 Surprisingly little. Mako knew that both the Qenj'vat and the humans had been genetically manipulated by the same Elder Race, many centuries before, but it was still remarkable how physically alike they were, aside from the Qenj'vat brow ridges and the humans being generally shorter.


End file.
